Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday chided Portland and other sanctuary cities, saying they’ve become a “trafficker’s, a smuggler’s or gang member’s best friend” and defended the Trump administration’s threats to withhold federal grants from them.

Sessions said the cities “believe they are above the law” and urged them to reconsider their policies. Their refusal to cooperate with federal immigration officials leads to increases in crime, gang violence and lawlessness, he said.

Sessions addressed about 80 federal officers in the naturalization ceremony room on the first floor of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Northwest Portland as protest chants from about 300 people outside drifted in faintly at times.

On the walls in the room were framed photos with headings that read “Hope for a Better Life,” “Our Promise of Freedom,” “A Beacon of Hope and Opportunity” and “Celebrate Citizenship, Celebrate America.”